Candlelight - Cycle of the Five Lions Sidestory 1
by Laura of Maychoria
Summary: It's a rest day between fighting monsters and hunting for treasure, and Pidge doesn't want to help Lance do a thing. But as usual, Lance won't take no for an answer.


**AN:** Ah, I forgot to post this here! Sorry. I put this up on AO3 on Pidge's birthday. At the time, it was a futurefic for where I was in the series, but now it would have happened sometime in the most recent chapters of Godsent Wanderer, while the trio has been wandering around.

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"Pidge, can you help me with a thing? There's a thing."

Pidge looked up at Lance with narrowed eyes. This was a rest day, she and Lance and Hunk camping out by the roadside and healing up after their last battle. Tomorrow they were going to reach some ruins where they were reasonably sure to find some treasure and definitely sure to find some monsters, and they had to be ready.

So, no, Pidge didn't want to help Lance with a thing. She wanted to laze by the fire, where Hunk had been cooking something delicious all day, and just enjoy the time off with Holly curled up sleeping on her chest.

As if roused by Pidge's thoughts, Holly lifted her furry little head and sniffed the air in Lance's direction. Pidge could feel her curiosity, and she looked at Lance more carefully as he hovered over her, fidgeting with his hands. Blue perched on his shoulder, watching her expectantly. Pidge sighed. "Okay, fine. What is it? Will it take long?"

Lance shook his head. "Just a... Something I wanted to show you. Come?"

His voice was so hopeful, his expression so childlike with his eyes sparkling and his hand stretched out invitingly, that Pidge could not refuse. She grunted, squeezed her eyes shut, then finally sat up and reached back. "Okay, okay. This better be worth it."

It wasn't really worth it. Lance led her wandering around the wilderness for a good half hour, occasionally muttering to himself and pointing in a different direction. "There! It was over there, I'm sure of it. C'mon!" And then he loped off, forcing Pidge to hurry to keep up with him.

"What, Lance?" she asked, every single time. "What is over there?"

"That thing! You know, the one I've been talking about. The thing!"

And off they went again.

Finally, they found something, thought Pidge wasn't convinced it was actually the thing Lance had originally set out to find. It was just a broken statue by the roadside of a track they hadn't even been following, made of crumbling yellow sandstone, the inscription below almost worn away. The statue looked like an adventurer of some sort, though the race, gender, and class were all indeterminate. The only thing Pidge could tell for sure was that it wasn't a halfling, because it was too tall and had the wrong proportions.

Lance looked inordinately relieved when they finally found it, but he immediately turned to Pidge, beaming broadly and bouncing on his toes as he pointed at the worn-out statue. "There! The thing!"

"Is it?" Pidge squinted up at it, nose wrinkling irritably. "This is the thing?"

"Yeah!" Lance ran over to the base and pointed at the inscription. "I was hoping maybe...you could make it out? I can't figure out what it says." He smiled sheepishly. "I know you're a lot smarter than me, so I thought maybe you could help me."

Well. Flattery helped a lot, even from someone as smooth-tongued as Lance. Pidge knew that most of what he said was pure nonsense, but he was also right. She was much smarter than him, and it felt good to be consulted. She adjusted her glasses and moved to join him.

In the end, she couldn't figure out the inscription either, but it ate up another good half hour of time. The only thing either of them knew for sure was that the statue was a hero of some sort for one of the small towns nearby, and this carving was supposed to extol his or her virtues. Finally, Lance sighed and glanced up at the sun, then patted Pidge's shoulder.

"That's enough, buddy. We should be getting back to camp. Hunk will start to worry."

That was true. Hunk worried a lot, about a lot of things, but he worried the most about Lance and Pidge when they dared to stray from his side. He didn't like it when they got too far away. Which made sense, since they often ended up in trouble or injured without him. Hunk was definitely the mainstay of their little party. Without him they would be dead several times over. Pidge didn't know how she and Lance had ever gotten along without him.

They returned to camp just as the sun was started to sink in the sky, not yet sunset, but heading there. Pidge's stomach was growling, and the food smells were even stronger and more enticing. Hunk was waiting for them, a huge smile on his face and some kind of tray in his hands.

Pidge blinked as they neared, and her mouth dropped open when she saw what Hunk was holding. On the tray were three small cakes, a bit lumpy from being cooked over a fire, but Hunk had made them, so she had no doubt that they would taste fantastic. They were frosted with a green sugar glaze and sprinkled with crushed peanuts. "Is this... Did you really...?"

Hunk and Lance looked at each other, grinning hard enough to crack their faces, then both looked to Pidge in the same instant. "HAPPY BIRTHDAY, PIDGE!"

Pidge stood there, stunned, as Lance pulled her into a quick hug and Hunk laughed, eyes squeezing almost shut. The three fairy lions chased each other in the air, just as delighted with the celebration as their humans. Pidge looked at Hunk, then at Lance, still stunned and frozen in shock. "How...how did you know?"

Hunk cleared his throat. "Ah, that was my fault. Saw a little notebook in your stuff and paged through it, saw some notes in the back about your family. Sorry for snooping, but it was for a good cause! We wouldn't have known it was your birthday otherwise."

Pidge scowled, all set to scold him for messing with her stuff, but Lance had already grabbed her elbow to pull her to the fire. "C'mon, c'mon! Hunk's been working all day on this! We caught that fat quail yesterday, and I found mushrooms and wild onions last night while you were sleeping, and Hunk dug up some taters to make a mash. It's gonna be delicious!"

He was right, of course. Everything was delicious. After they stuffed themselves on quail and hearty sides, Hunk handed out the three cakes, one for each of them. He pulled a candle from his pack, and Lance lit it with a quick flame from his fingertip. The sun was nearly gone, then, the night coming in strong and deep so far from any cities. The yellow glow of the candlelight flickered, soft and friendly, as Pidge's companions leaned over it to look at her, both smiling bright.

Pidge smiled back. She couldn't help it. Last year at this time she had been alone, no party, no friends, not even a tiny misshapen cake stolen from a bakery somewhere. Everything had changed now. And even though they had a lot ahead of them, many trials and quests and deep delves in dark dungeons, Pidge was glad to have these two kind, friendly young men at her side.

She blew out the candle. Lance and Hunk cheered. The lions crowded around, rubbing up against her to demand pats and cuddles. They ate the cakes, sweet and nutty and perfect. And for once, it seemed like everything might turn out right.


End file.
